The mainstream media, football administrators, football club directors, former football club directors, together with the executives from PR companies, are in a new space this week.
Many of these people have spent over 20 years controlling all important aspects of the media in relations to football in Scotland. Some have established a culture of dependency and fear; at the left of the telephone, or the click of a mouse, they could destroy reputations.
Most of these types backed Craig Whyte when Sir David Murray endorsed him as the right sort to buy Rangers, a situation which remained in place until administrators were appointed last year. Since then they have acted in unison to demonise Whyte, who has been painted as the solely responsible for the downfall of the football club.
Now, thanks to the industrious Charlotte, every underhand conspiracy is in danger of becoming exposed.
Find yourself in the dock over sectarian chanting? Don’t dispute the fact, simply allude to links which didn’t actually exist between the son of a Celtic director and the head of an anti-racism unit. The fact that some think there is an apparent scandal in the son of a Celtic director having links to an anti-racism campaigner is a bizarre thought. There were no links, but why shouldn’t there be, it’s anti-racism were talking here, which football clubs really should have affinity with.
And Oldco Rangers printed this rubbish in a submission to Uefa! Good grief.
Stewart Regan finds himself with a position to defend. One of his responsibilities is to ensure clubs are licenced correctly for Uefa competitions. I am not too exercised with him coordinating a response to this issue with the club concerned, but his assertion that Rangers were legitimately licenced for season 2011-12, despite the Discounted Options Scheme, or Wee Tax Case, seems more than odd.
In order to gain a Uefa licence clubs must have paid all social taxes due by 31 December no later than 31 March. Rangers advisors, Grant Thornton UK LLP, called Rangers £2.8m liability, which was unpaid by 31 March 2011, a “potential liability”, which was subject to discussions between the club and HMRC.
In quite simple terms, a club can call any liability a potential liability, however, this particular liability was very real. If the SFA allow Uefa rules to be circumnavigated by such a self-certified dismissal they are failing their duty to the game.
Mr Regan, the fact of this matter is that the liability was real. What evidence did you see to convince you otherwise? What processes are in place to ensure that a rogue SFA executive cannot rubber stamp a licence when one should not be granted? Can a club simply say “We’re all right, this stuff is under discussion” to make the SFA look the other way?
SFA president, Campbell Ogilvie, was secretary and director of Rangers during the entire operation of the Discounted Options Scheme. He was on the SFA board with oversight duties for ensuring clubs meet Uefa licensing standards when the club were issued with their 2011-12 licence, and he is currently seeking re-election to his post.
If Rangers were denied their licence for 2011-12 Celtic would have been eligible
The chat from PR companies is perhaps the most alarming, for them, of course.
Right now there is a campaign underway to ignore Charlotte. Any journo who takes on such an influential group of interests might is facing down some of the most influential people in the media industry. Here’s a thought for you: I reckon only circa 10% of available material has been looked at. Charlotte is not going away and neither is wee Craigie.
We have a special Father’s Day offer for the Willie Wallace book. Order between now and Thursday morning and we’ll include a Father’s Day card, complete with your own message. See the big graphic to the right..
You can choose from two cards, see explanation and choices here, one with Tony Watt after scoring against some Spanish lot, the other with Billy McNeill receiving some trophy or other.
Click on the button below, enter the text you would like to appear in the middle of the card, and Tony will post your book off in time for Father’s Day.
By common consent, the latest CQN Magazine has been voted the best yet.
For a proper read of the magazine cick here. Use the navigation buttons at the bottom to flick through pages or zoom in.
Order Heart of a Lion with your personalised Father’s Day card here:
[calameo code=0003901713852289beccb lang=en page=1 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
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That 31003 has a neck! He’s sittin at the cheaper cafe across the front from SMB
SoT
Naples… have they emptied the bins yet?
Crazy town. Only place I ever got booked for driving below the speed limit – I reckon they just saw the car rental decal and picked up an easy €70. After all, every other fecher was bumping across the central reservation…
CorkCelt
Sorrento is beautiful, but crowded and expensive. Hire a car for a couple of days and head up across the peninsula. Wonderful scenery as the mountains fall into the sea on all sides. The hotel Convento de la Luna at Amalfi is the perfect spot for a wee.. well whatever one’s tastes extend to.
The entire region is living history. If you’re a book reader, Robert Harris’ Pompeii is a good intro to the area. You’re about a (slow) 60 mins drive only from Pompeii and Herculaneum, which you’ll pass to and from the airport. Go early morning when the heat is bearable, and take a lot of water, and a good camera. The view of the entire Naples Bay and across to Ischia/Capri from the top of Vesuvius is breath taking, as is the hole in the side of the mountain that landed on top of the towns if geology is your thing.
Great stuff, and far more to see and do than you can squeeze into a week.
Enjoy
BMCUW
Yiv jist made that old tart’s day!!
Much in the same way Zbysek hoped that we wouldn’t get Tonev.
I hoped that we wouldn’t get Marc Antoine Fortune when we signed him.
I said on here prior to his signing ,that his goals to game ration was poor.
I think my judgement of that particular player was proved correct .
Dare I say my judgement was better than Tony Mowbray’s as far as MAF was concerned.
This was particularly surprising as TM had made MAF his galactico purchase having previously managed him at WBA.
There is a widely regarded theory om here that we know very little compared to our managers ,coaching and scouting staff.
That theory should work out in practice ,because what is the point of paying a salary that is commensurate with a high level of expertise,then to discover that the relevant level of expertise doesn’t actually exist.
Our management team and scout’s have about 55/45% ratio of success IMHO.
If you or I were doing their job regularly ,that might fall to 10/90% ratio.
My point is that just putting blind faith that Parliament / Lennon will get it right all of the time is wrong.
We need look no further than Mo Bangura or Daryl Murphy for examples of getting it wrong.
Having looked at Balde’s goals to game ration ,and what little that I have seen of him on film.
I hope Balde signs for Crystal Palace.
Hopefully this time next year ,you can all dig me up about this post.
I won’t accept that there is more to his game than goals,if he doesn’t score his fare share of goals.
TT
PF,
is there anything at all alcohol-related that you are not partial to the odd drop of??
HAIL!HAIL!
Token
I have to say that Naples had the danger antennae going 12 to the dozen. Only there for a half day, and walking from the railway station to a taxi rank and having a pizza and a beer had my hackles roused. I’ve been in Detroit, New York, Vancouver, Toronto and nearly every capitol city in Europe, and nowhere gave me that feeling. However Sorrento was lovely, and the boat trips round the Amalfi coast were breath-taking. There’sa little town on the top of the hill past the Bristol hotel called Sant Agata De Sui Golfi, and it has great little bars and restaurants. Get a bus round the coast from there and you’ll have your heart in your mouth with the bus drivers, but it’s wonderful. Best food in Sorrento is the Red Lion (I know!) down by the bus station. The locals have it crammed, which says enough. I could go on all day about the country, then I remember Juventus and their penalty box shenanagans against the Celts. That sobers me up.
MattE
Lookin dodgy fur Thursday…..ahm away tae Ross Hall tae spy and put oot the white smoke…
SMASHY
I aim to please….
corkcelt
stay away from Capi … a few years we went a trip there while holidaying in Sorrento ..it was an evening trip ..i had no idea what i was lettting myself in for
designer shops everywhere …was like feckin Bond St , London …..Mrs PF hammered me …done up like a kipper
TBB
I was slightly underwhelmed by Sorrento, at least the town.
The Costierera Amalfitana was more spectacular. Good days out to Capri and Ravello.
Not forgetting, of course, a trip to the summit of Vesuvius.
wishyouwerehere CSC
Capri
THE TOKEN TIM
Blinkin’ flip,what a stupid question.
He’s an Ayrshire lad now….
Mary Had a little Lamb….
the doctors were astounded
PF Ayr
You should have gone for a long walk to the Villa of Tiberius.
The designer shops peter out after the town!
SMB can we no get him wan o’ them air cushions tae sit on?
Georgie Porgie pudding and pie, Kissed the girls and made them cry. When the boys came out to play, Georgie kissed them, he’s funny that way…
.
Don;t think Ole KoK goals per Game Ratio was Guid before Celtic FC..
sUMMA
BMCUW,
of course! I should have remembered that.
He’s forgotten his roots that Bhoy.
Us Shire Bhoys have much more prosaic tastes.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
BeerAndWine CSC
TTT
no really no
apart from Tennents lager ..cuddy p1ss
Does Capri still have a nudist beach?
We were doon the harbour feelin’ Merry.
Merry walked away…..
Anyone know anything about Liverpool tkts in Dublin
All season tkt holders.
On the lead article there has been more revelations from CF re UEFA licence.
I am having probloems posting this on tsfm but it will be of interest here too.
================================
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
June 11, 2013 at 7:12 am
Seems CtH has been busy overnight:
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 5h
Nothing insurmountable in Feb 12 but VAT apportionment a pain. 1. http://www.scribd.com/doc/147008062/UEFA-Club-Monitoring-03 … 2. http://www.scribd.com/doc/147008050/UEFA-Club-Monitoring-03a … 3. http://www.scribd.com/doc/147008093/UEFA-Club-Monitoring-03b …
==========================
The latest from CF on the granting of a UEFA Licence in 2011 seems to support the suspicions voiced and questions asked at
http://celticunderground.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=856:in-whom-do-we-trust&catid=47:season-2011-2012&Itemid=83
In summary the SFA seem to have been lax in their policingof the rules (to the financial disadvantage to other clubs) at best and collusion with Rangers on how to get around the rules at worst.
Questions arising are ongoing on Twitter @Auldheid but any comments that challenge or support the above summary are more than welcome in the interest of balance.
Had the SFA answered the questions in the above article at the time asked (and they would have them) they would not be in the position they now find themselves or perhaps they feared they would be sooner?
PF,
I concur wholeheartedly re Tee Ell.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
hoopeddreams
i was Shanghai`d …..i thought it was a nice wee rustic setting for an evening meal
i was punch drunk in the designer shops before i realised what was happening
stitched up btw …Mrs and friends had planned my financial demise for months …scheming harpies
Smashy
…Everywhere she went
Gynaecologists surrounded !
PF ayr
Shanghai’d in Capri?
How unlucky can you get??
three in a bed in capri…….hope you had air con?
TinyTim
Did you write this article?
http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/celtic/id/421?cc=5901
If you say the name Balde to Celtic fans, they will jog their memories back to a defender who took no prisoners in one instance and opened up the gates, welcoming everyone in, the next. His style of defending married lumbering long distance runs with tackles that sent opposition players into orbit and a no sense of positioning. In Short, Balde was a cult figure namely because of his crunching tackles.
But the Balde I am talking about is not the one who coined the chant ‘Bobo’s gonnae get ye!’ I’m talking about a Portuguese striker called Amido Balde – who Celtic have just agreed a fee of £1.5 million plus add-ons with his parent club Vitoria Guimaraes.
– Celtic set to win race for Balde
If you thought ‘who’ after mention of Amido Balde’s name, then you were in the same boat as yours truly after I heard the link a week or so ago. I didn’t have one single clue who Balde was and when I began to look into him – his stats and what club he was plying his trade for – his signing for Celtic was looking more and more like another Morten Rasmussen or Mo Bangura experience than one of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink or Chris Sutton.
Even today I posted on twitter saying I was baffled as to why Celtic would pay £2 million for a 22-year-old striker who scored only nine goals in 27 games this season for a side that finished ninth in the Portuguese Liga and has no experience in Europe.
Dundee United sold striker Johnny Russell to Derby County for £750,000 plus add-ons. Russell is a proven SPL goal scorer, with European experience and he has played for his country, albeit at youth level, alongside Leigh Griffiths. Russell has played 38 times in all competitions, including the Europa League this season, scoring 20 times – before injury saw him out from the end of February to the beginning of May.
That opinion, based on comparing the two players’ stats as well as knowledge of Russell at all levels, hit a chord with many Celtic fans. Some lambasted me for daring to query their latest signing, others said ‘damn the stats and the fees’, while others just flung insults and labelled me a Rangers fan. Funnily enough the majority of these critics and self-confessed football experts hadn’t seen a single video of Balde in action.
There was also the argument that Russell was never going to be signed as Celtic already have Anthony Stokes and Gary Hooper in that type of role. Yet at this moment in time, Stokes is still in negotiations to extend his contract, which expired at the end of this season and Hooper is continually linked with a move to the English Premier League. Balde is being described as a target man in the style of Hesselink and Sutton.
‘It’s what Celtic need’. That is what I was being told. Celtic need a target man and Balde fits that description. At this point, I had to refresh my memory of this so-called target man and Celtic’s ‘new signing’.
So heading to YouTube – the fans trusty scouting tool – I clicked on video after video of Balde in action. While it may not be the same footage as that which John Parks and Neil Lennon viewed, and I bow to their years of experience in the game, but Balde’s game certainly didn’t fill me with optimism. In fact, my likening of him to another Morten Rasmussen or Mo Bangura was proven by every video I viewed.
Now, the tictactic blog has reviewed his game against Benfica in the Taca de Portugal and ultimately stated: “While Balde’s ultimate contribution was limited, his assets were clear to see. A prime athlete’s build enough to unsettle Champions League level defences, and an indefatigable attitude. The harshest critics will connect the cup final’s unpredictable end-product with an uninspiring domestic scoring record – nine goals in 27 league games. But at £2 million Lennon and Lawwell are confident of having found a gem worth polishing.”
In the games that I viewed, there was no denying that Balde was enthusiastic and not afraid to get onto the ball. He also had an eye for running into the channels to give his team-mates an option to pass, but even after all the nice flicks and lay-offs, not to mention some good goals with both feet and his head, at the end of the day we have seen similar players coming into the Scottish game with significantly more experience and flopping, expensive flops at that.
Balde has been given plenty of time in the Portuguese Liga, but in the SPL he will be closed down, harried, bullied and kicked at by SPL defenders. Looking through the videos, Balde goes to ground far too easily – either through his own skills of simulation or his lack of strength. He may have an athlete’s build as tictactic stated, but he is more likened to a Mo Farah build than a Usain Bolt style of athlete.
Celtic are in dire need of a target man. That is was what Georgios Samaras was bought as, and he turned out to be something totally different. The summer transfer window has not even opened yet and Celtic have already lost one potential signing in Russell – a player who would have replaced Stokes and Hooper if they do head out of Parkhead for pastures new.
Is Balde really the saviour that so many Celtic twitterers believe he is? If he is, then I will strut my stuff in a mankini in the centre circle of Celtic Park and that would be an awful sight to behold – akin to Jabba the Hut wearing a g-string.
Only time will tell if Balde is capable of doing a job for Celtic, or if he turns out to be another in a long line of flops that have mudded the green and white hoops. For every Victor Wanyama there is a Marc Antoine Fortune, Daryl Murphy, Morten Rasmussen and Mo Bangura.
Oh aye, plus he needs to sign personal terms before we get ahead of ourselves and I go shopping for a green and white hooped mankini. It may all be in vain with newly promoted EPL side Crystal Palace sniffing around Balde.
LB
More in hope than expectation I sent this to Raith Rovers and a few other clubs last night.
” I would be surprised if Mr Hutton was not aware of material, relevant to the future well being of Scottish Football, that is now being made available on the internet.
Because the means by which the info was acquired is dubious nothing is being reported in mainstream media, but the content seen by a very respected journalist is real and not made up.
Very recent leaks on the issue of a UEFA licence in 2011 to Rangers are potentially very damaging to the SFA. In particular Mr Ogilvie and Mr Regan will have questions to answer if the information reaches the public domain and one way or another it is likely to do so.
A vote for Mr Ogilvie will be seen as a vote of confidence in him by member clubs at a time when supporters of most Scottish clubs have lost confidence/trust in Mr Ogilvie who is already compromised by the EBT case on which the UTT again sits, but will become fatally so as the leaks go mainstream. His re election would be viewed as a slap in the face by most fans from the clubs they support.
I am not sure of the protocol at AGMs for dealing with resolutions, but members should perhaps take time to reflect if a vote at this sensitive time is in the best interests of Scottish football or simply abstain.
You might wish to circulate this to as many voting attendees as possible not on the cc list so that a more informed decison can be made.”
Summa –
When I saw Starry’s 4-0 comment, I assumed it was a wild prediction. Then when it went to 3-0 and Rogic came on, I thought . . . wait a wee minute here.
I soon realised SBS were showing a delayed broadcast.
How daft do I feel?
:~)
corkcelt
If you find the time I would suggest a visit to Ravello.
There is an ancient legend, still recounted by tour guides in Salerno and Amalfi, that it was to Ravello, with its breathtaking view of the Mediterranean and the dramatic Amalfi coastline, that Satan transported Jesus during His second temptation to show the beauty of the world’s kingdoms. (Luke 4: 5-8)
Enjoy your stay!
HH!!
Raymac @ 12 38
” then I remember Juventus ”
Most of the inhabitants of Naples hate Juve more than you do . Juve supporters brave enough to go to a game in Naples are greeted with big Death Notices strung between lamp posts on the outskirts of the city
A wall on the outside of the stadium features a big ——-Grazie Liverpool ! — It’s been there since Heysel and regularly gets refreshed. .
A Napoli /Celtic game in a packed stadium would be an occasion to remember .
Folk are funny they say don’t they, when the Portuguese boy at St Mirren scored against us folk were saying, how come Celtic don’t operate in that market, how come St Mirren can find such a gem.
Celtic duly operate in that market and scout a young striker and noo folk say, he’s pash, look at his record, whit ur we daein’ operating in that market..
It must be something the CIA pit in the waaaater….
Rest In Peace, Henry Cecil.
I am glad that you lived long enough to enjoy Frankel.
What Frankel was among horses, you have been as a trainer & as a man.
________________
I am probably in a minority in my sadness at the sacking of Kenny Shiels.
I enjoy his shoot-from-the-lip style.
Hope he finds another job very quickly.
Good Luck.
9 in 27?
Sincerely hoping this is a potential gem merely requiring some polish to shine but at twice the cost of Johnny Russell I’m not holding my breath.
Go on Holloway, you know you want to and all that dosh must be burning a hole…
PF AYR
As I said to you when you looked at me askance in response to my request for a pint of Tennents,living down here and suffering Carling,Carlsberg and Fosters makes the heart grow fonder.
And a decent pint of the stuff is a genuine pleasure. The Horseshoe next time yer in Glasgow may well affect your thinking on this.
Twenty pints of course will affect a lot more!
Bad enough the laptop loyal putting negative spin on a player before he signs for Celtic. Then again the ones moaning on here would need directions to Celtic park.
By the way, his fee us nowhere near 2 Million.